Plato’s Grave in Athens

According to the Greek Reporter, the Italian archaeologist Graziano Ranocchia located the site of Plato’s grave in the garden of his Academy in Athens near the sacred shrine to the Muses. 

[The archaeological site of Plato’s academy. Credit: Tomisti, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikipedia]

This discovery is based on the latest deciphering of a carbonized papyrus from Herculaneum (see: Reading Papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum). The scroll revealed the history of the Academy by Philodemus of Gadara, a poet and philosopher who lived in Herculaneum. 

Plato's Academy included thinkers such as Theaetetus of Sunium (from Cape Sounion), Archytas of Tarentum, a Pythagorean scientist and philosopher, Leodamas of Thasos, and Neocleides, both Greek mathematicians. 

The garden where Plato decided to establish his Academia was originally a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to Athena, appropriately the goddess of wisdom, situated outside Athens’ city walls. 

Although Plato’s grave site has been established, nothing is said about whatever remains. Is there a tombstone or any kind of marker, something for us to see? After all, the garden is a large area. 

Wikipedia writes that “The site of the Academy is located near Colonus, approximately, 1.5 km north of Athens' Dipylon gates. The site was rediscovered in the 20th century, in modern Akademia Platonos neighbourhood; considerable excavation has been accomplished.” ... “the Peristyle Building (4th century BC), which is perhaps the only major building that belonged to the actual Academy of Plato”.

The modern Academy of Athens is Greece’s National Academy, established in 1926 based on the same principles as the ancient Academy of Plato. The main building in Greek neoclassical style is a landmark in the city and a clear reminder of ancient Greece.

About decrees and multilingual inscriptions

In antiquity, news was carried by word of mouth, but legal matters and other important information were cut in stone and placed in a conspicuous spot for everyone to see. 

The majority of inscriptions are Decrees of which I can only mention a selection. 

At the Acropolis Museum, there is a stele with decrees for the construction of the temple and altar of Nike by Kallikrates, for the reorganization of the cult, and for the salary of the priestess of the goddess dated 427-424 BC (side A) and 424-423 BC (side B).

Also a stele with a series of Decrees by which the Athenians bestowed economic, commercial, and military privileges on their ally Methone in Pieria. 

It shows the goddess Athena shaking hands with perhaps Artemis, dated 430-423 BC.

Very broken but still readable is the Athenian Decree honoring Neapolis (modern Kavala) for its support in the war against Thasos and its constant commitment to her. 

In the upper right corner, we recognize the goddess Athena extending her hand towards another figure, probably the goddess Parthenos of Neapolis, dated from 410-409 BC.

A very elegant stele with a horse and an olive wreath carries an inscription in which the Athenians honored King Alcetas of Epirus for his help during their military expedition to Corcyra (modern Corfu) in 373-372 BC.

And finally, still at the Acropolis Museum, there is the long Decree of Chalkis on the island of Euboia in which the islanders were forced to swear loyalty to Athens after failing in their revolt of 446-445 BC. 

The people of Chalkis could punish their own citizens, except in cases that involved death, exile, or the loss of their rights as citizens, where the power of Athens prevailed.

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens has its own rich collection of Decrees. A good example is the honorary inscription from Piraeus dating from 347-346 BC. 

The stele honors the three sons of Leukon (depicted), king of the Cimmerian Bosporus, thanking them for services rendered to the people of Athens and allowing them to import grain free of duty.

A particular stele from 355-354BC was found near the Monument of Lysicrates in Athens. 

It honors Philiskos, son of Lykos of Sestos in the Thracian Hellespont as a public guest and benefactor of Athens. In 356 BC, Philiskos had warned the Athenians of the hostile presence of the fleet of Byzantium that threatened the city’s grain supply.

The Eleusis Museum, in turn, exhibits a decree providing for the construction of a footbridge across Lake Rheitoi on the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, dated 421 BC.

Two fragments from an unidentified monument carry a Royal Decree of Alexander, which defines the limits of ‘land’, meaning the agricultural area that Philippi supervised. 

The (partial) inscription dates from 336-334 BC, just before Alexander started his campaign East. It is kept at the Museum of Philippi.

On a different level, there is a Decree sanctioning the people and city of Iasos for conspiring against King Mausolos of Caria. 

It is kept at the Louvre in Paris and dates to 370-350 BC. 

 

The Foundation Decree of Cyrene in North Africa is a covenant between the citizens of Cyrene in ca. 322 BC and those of their mother-state of Thera. 

The exact purpose is uncertain, but it is thought that the citizens of Thera, including the early settlers of 631 BC, were granted the same rights and freedoms as the Cyreneans, even though Cyrene was wealthier than Thera at the time.

Of another level is, for instance, the trilingual stele from Letoon in the Xanthos Valley found near the Temple of Apollo. It holds a public Decree authorizing the cult of the deities and establishing the provisions for its officers.
The Decree is written in Lycian, Greek, and Aramaic, which are not verbatim translations of each other. Each version contains information that is not translated into the two other tongues. The Aramaic text with 27 lines is the shortest, followed by Greek with 35 lines, and Lycian with 51 lines. Useless to point out that this stele helped to decipher the peculiar Lycian language. This unique document can be seen at the Fethiye Museum.

The story of this stele reminds us of the Rosetta Stone, which helped to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs and Demotic script using the Greek version carved on the same stone. The text is a Decree issued by King Ptolemy V of Egypt in 196 BC and was key to deciphering the hitherto unknown hieroglyphic signs. 

Trilingual inscriptions are not isolated cases. In ancient Persia, it was a common practice to leave inscriptions in three languages to make sure everyone in the vast empire would be notified: Elamite, Old Persian, and Babylonian. The best-known lines are carved on the cliff wall of Bisutun, where Darius I celebrates his victory over Gaumata and eight more pretenders to the throne in 518 BC, as represented above.

The trilingual inscriptions on the Palace walls of Pasargadae and Persepolis are mainly continuous reminders of the power of the King of Kings who ruled by the grace of Ahuramazda, repeating their title of Great King. These were defined in full by Cyrus the Great: Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World.

Perhaps the most remarkable panels are set in the spectacular landscape close to the fast-running mountain river and lovely waterfalls of Ganj Nameh, some five kilometers southwest of Hamadan. As is customary, each text starts by praising Ahuramazda and continues describing the lineage and deeds of Darius I on the left panel and his son Xerxes on the right. It reads: "The Great God [is] Ahuramazda, greatest of all the gods, who created the earth and the sky and the people; who made Xerxes king, and outstanding king as outstanding ruler among innumerable rulers; I [am] the great king Xerxes, king of kings, king of lands with numerous inhabitants, king of this vast kingdom with far-away territories, son of the Achaemenid monarch Darius." (see: The Bisutun relief of King Darius I).

I’d like to close with the impressive Monument of Opramoas in Rhodiapolis. He was a great benefactor who contributed lavishly to the reconstruction of most Lycian cities after the devastating earthquake of 141 AD. He must have been terribly wealthy, for it seems that every single Lycian city mentioned his name in thanks. The construction blocks of the Monument listing his good deeds were strewn over a wide area until, in 2016, archaeologists managed to sort them out and reconstruct the walls of his Monument (see: The Monument in honor of Opramoas of Rhodiapolis is taking shape).

Its text, the longest ever found in Lycia or perhaps even in all of Anatolia, contains 12 letters Opramoas exchanged with the Roman Emperors and Antoninus Pius in particular, 19 letters to the Roman Procurator, and 33 various documents related to the Lycian League. 

The reasons for leaving an inscription widely vary, and the list is endless. I stopped at a few of the most telling examples that caught my attention.

Happy Birthday Alexander!

 Today we celebrate Alexander’s birthday, a date I could never forget. 

I still don’t know if the ancient Greeks and Macedonians celebrated their birthdays, although the people of Thasos remembered Alexander on this day. 

In antiquity, people did not live by a calendar with a recurring yearly date as we do. Celebrations occurred following some astrological events making time very elastic. 

The only way to be sure of Alexander’s date of birth is that the Temple of Artemis in Ephesos burnt that very night. Some lunatic by the name of Herostratus wanted his name to be remembered. Well, he obviously did more than that! 

Legend has a more elegant explanation for the fire. The story goes that Artemis was far too busy helping Alexander into the world and neglected her duties in the temple. 

Whatever the story, scholars so far all agree on the date of 20/21 July for Alexander’s birth. 

Happy birthday Alexander!

The unique marble from Thasos

The site of Alyki is to be found at the southern end of the island of Thasos, and obviously, its marble quarries are better known as Thasos marble.

Originally, Thasos was settled by the Phoenicians who exploited the island’s rich gold mines. Yet, by the 7^th century BC the Greeks from Paros coveted the gold and also were interested in the white marble that was largely available. This soft snow-white material was exported throughout antiquity and has been found in places like the nearby island of Samothrace, in Pergamon, Sardes, and Ephesos in Asia Minor, in southern Greece, and in Ostia in Italy. The Romans of the 1^st century BC developed a particular fondness for this pure white marble that lasted until the 3^rd century AD. The precious material has been retrieved as far away as Germania as it was shipped over the Black Sea to the mouth of the Danube where it was transferred on flat-bottom vessels that sailed upstream all the way to the Rhine.

In Alyki, the marble was roughly quarried and the semi-finished columns, bases, capitals, or blocks for statues and the like were loaded onto the ships anchored in the nearby harbor. It served for the construction of temples, early Christian churches, and important official buildings.

Floor tiles of Alyki marble were held in high esteem from the 5th century onward and are still highly appreciated today because they possess the unique quality to reflect the sun. Recently, the Grand Mosque of Mecca has been repaved with these heat-resistant slabs of 100 x 40 x 5 centimeters. This floor maintains the same temperature by day and by night, meaning that the pilgrims can move bare-footed without being bothered by the heat.

Even today, Thasos yields three types of marble: Extra White, Snow White, and Pure White, as it is remarkably pure in color with no dark veins or shades. It is famous for its translucent quality and is praised worldwide, being exported to countries like Syria, Egypt, and even Iran. 

Whoever sets out to visit these quarries will automatically pass through a number of shrines dating back to the 7^th-5^th century BC, dedicated to the twins Castor and Pollux and to Apollo, who were worshiped by sailors anchoring in the idyllic harbor. The stones from these buildings were largely reused by the early Christians who built two basilicas on top of the ancient temples. There is also a fragmented pillar with a Greek inscription and a large Roman sarcophagus left in situ. Two more quarries from the Roman and Proto-Byzantine era can be spotted close to the waterfront.

Happy Birthday, dear Alexander!

Let’s celebrate the occasion with this head of Alexander the Great from the museum on the Greek island of Thasos.

It is not yet common knowledge that Thasos was among the first Greek cities to worship Alexander as a god. The Festival of Alexander was celebrated on the birthday of the Macedonian King, which means today!

This trend of worshiping was to grow with the rise of the Roman Empire, adding a political aspect to the traditional range of cult worship.

Today, Alexander is still being worshiped, but the word now means that we admire him immensely.

So, dig out your choice amphora and produce your silver embossed kylix to join me in a Macedonian toast in memory of this great conqueror!

A Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV

Strolling through the temporary exhibition about Samothrace at the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, I was surprised to find two odd-looking objects labeled as Dedications of Philip III and Alexander IV.

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, there was no heir to the throne of the King of Asia, and his generals had a rough time agreeing on a successor. Alexander’s son with Roxane had not been born yet, and his earlier son with Barsine was never recognized by Alexander. After many flaring discussions, it was decided that Alexander’s simple-minded half-brother Arrhidaeus would share the throne with Roxane’s baby boy under the respective names of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV. Neither was to rule as king, at least not at this very early stage.

Here at the museum, this is the first time I have seen artifacts tied to both kings, and I wonder whether these are the only ones. The Dedication dates from between 323, when their co-kingship was implemented, and 317 BC, the year in which Philip III Arrhidaeus was brutally murdered by Olympias.

Samothrace is, of course, the place where Philip II and Olympias, Alexander’s parents, met during an initiation ceremony to the sacred rites of the most secret Mysteries, but why is this island so important that even young Alexander IV and his simple-minded uncle honor it with a dedication of their own?

According to Diodorus, initiation at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods promised an opportunity to “become a better and more pious person.” Divine forces of earth, sky, and sea played a fundamental role in the mysteries that shrouded (and are still shrouding) the island. From as early as the 7^th century BC all the way down to the 4^th century AD, the Sanctuary provided insight into spiritual, political, and cultural life. The intense activity is shown through the host of monuments erected here since they are all set in selective locations throughout the landscape to enhance the initiates’ experience.

     

 

The marble Doric building where the Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV was found would have been the first significant construction the visitor saw when entering the Sanctuary. It stood nine meters high and welcomed the pilgrims with the dedicatory inscription reading “King Philip [and] Alexander to the Great Gods,” a proof – if needed – that both kings ruled equally. I did not find the inscription at the museum; only a fragment of a monumental eagle’s head and a wing bit from the two large eagles that once adorned the construction, probably as acroteria. The Dedication monument was the work of local craftsmen who used two different kinds of marble. For the façade, which counted six columns, Pentelic marble from Attica had the preference, while the sides and back marble came from the nearby island of Thasos, as was common elsewhere in Samothrace. The open chamber is said to have preserved its mosaic floor with a central panel unusually made of rhomboid marble tesserae, which I have not seen at the museum but may still be in situ.

The construction of such a significant monument by the two kings or whoever acted on their behalf was meant to reinforce their rightful succession to Alexander the Great. Using Pentelic marble for its façade was an iconic reference to other great monuments in Athens and to Athenian dedications in other locations. To the visitors of those days, this Dedication would also be seen as Macedonia’s claim to power over mainland Greece.

After this exciting discovery, I spent more time investigating the other artifacts to learn more about Samothrace. The most valuable tools are an excellent reconstruction of the site and a clear map of all the pertaining buildings.

I find another intriguing testimony of Alexander’s heritage in one of the showcases: a tiny gold applique of a lion of Achaemenid origin, once inlaid with precious stones. It has been dated to the 4^th century BC and may be a trophy one of his soldiers brought back from Persia.

There is also the top part of a stele containing a dedication of King Lysimachos of Thrace from between 288 and 281 BC. Based on the surviving first fifteen lines, Lysimachos is honored for restoring sacred lands on the mainland initially granted to Samothrace by either Philip II and Alexander the Great or Philip Arrhidaeus III and Alexander IV. Boundary stones for said sacred land have been found near Alexandroupolis in Greece. Lysimachos is also honored as a friend and benefactor of Samothrace, hence his title of Lysimachus Euergetes as inscribed on the altar erected in his honor and used during annual festivals.

Just a few years later, between 285 and 281 BC, Ptolemy II built a Propylon, one of the most lavishly decorated entrance buildings from Hellenistic times. This must have been an impressive monument since the metopes were an elegant succession of alternating 100 rosettes and 104 garlanded bucrania or ox skulls. It makes you wonder about the richness of the other details.

To remain with the Ptolemaic dynasty, Arsinoe II built a splendid Rotunda at the Sanctuary. It is not clear, however, whether this Rotunda was made while she was married to Lysimachos of Thrace, mentioned above, and her first husband (288-281 BC) or after she became the wife of her brother Ptolemy II, her third husband (273-270 BC). The meaning of the Dedication thus varies accordingly. If the Rotunda was built during her marriage with Lysimachos, it might stand for the alliance of Egypt with Thrace and the northern Aegean. If erected when she married her brother, it could mean to thank Samothrace for sheltering her after fleeing from her second husband, Ptolemy Keraunas. This Rotunda was also decorated with reliefs of alternating rosettes and bucrania, a favorite theme. A lovely rosette and a strange-looking, round and flat tile from the roof are exhibited here.

Much more recent is the Dedication to the Great Gods of Samothrace by the Thessalian League from 170-140 BC. It tells us that their embassy was led by Damothoinos, son of Leontomenes and a member of a prominent family from Pherae; he was the leader of the league in 161/160 BC. This Dedication shows the importance of the Thessalian League after being freed from Macedonian rule.

The best-known sculpture from Samothrace is the famous Nike, now at the Louvre and recently restored and cleaned for the pleasure of our eyes! It has been dated to the 2^nd century BC and was a gift from the people of Rhodes to thank the gods who protected seafarers and granted them victory in war, maybe in commemoration of the Battle of Myonnissos or the victory over Antiochus III at Side in 190 BC.

Yet the Athens exhibition shows another Nike statue, less flashy than this famous one, which is said to be one of four that stood at each corner of the Hieron built between 325 and 150 BC.

Another piece that caught my attention was this lovely frieze of dancing girls. It was found in an imposing building of 34x23 meters that is neither a temenos nor a propylon and thus has been labeled as the Hall of Choral Dancers after the frieze that was discovered inside. Dating from the middle of the 4^th century BC, this Hall is the first marble structure of the Sanctuary, maybe even the oldest and the largest one. The frieze we see here is only a small section of the continuous row of hundreds of dancing maidens running around the entire building. Besides the dancing figures, female musicians also accompanied the long procession. The wealth exposed in this monument leads experts to believe that it was commissioned by an influential donor and that the name of Philip II, Alexander’s father, has fallen since it was here that he met Queen Olympias.

Because of Philip’s and Olympia’s early presence and the splendid monumental dedications made during the later Hellenistic period, it is generally believed that Samothrace played a crucial role in Macedonia’s legacy. I would even add a pivotal role to Alexander’s legacy!

Climax turned into an anti-climax at Kasta Hill near Amphipolis?

A large cist grave has been revealed underneath the floor of the third chamber, with the grave proper inside. All around this grave are the scattered bones of the deceased, mingled with remains of a wooden coffin, i.e., bronze and iron nails, apparently decorated with glass and bone or ivory.

[Picture from the Greek Ministry of Culture]

This news should make the headlines right away and make everybody happy, yet the excitement is seriously tuned down by an offsetting comment that “the genetic material will be transferred to a special lab”. Well, I hope so, to say the least, but nothing is being said if there are indications as to whether this is a male or female, if there are any grave goods that surrounded the remains, as we would expect from any sizeable tomb. The only comment is: wait.

It is obvious that this tomb has been looted in the past, yet I find it strange that so much effort has been taken to refill the three chambers after robbing this tomb of its supposedly wealthy gifts. Considering the size of the mound (larger than the tumulus at Vergina), the precious marble from Thasos used for its construction, and the tall lion of Amphipolis that once stood watch over it, I find this newly discovered tomb quite disappointing. To have such a majestic entrance with the two sphinxes, the elegant caryatids guarding the next chamber, and the superb pebble mosaic floor, one would expect something more than a bare grave of simple porous stone.

On the other hand, in its official communiqué, the Greek Ministry of Culture states that geophysical studies will be carried out to determine whether there are other tombs hidden under this mound, as was the case for the tumulus at Vergina.

This still leaves the matter of the staircase mentioned only yesterday unanswered, and the possibility of finding a fourth chamber behind this third chamber remains anyone’s guess.

Once again, the official communiqué raises more questions than it provides answers. Maybe the interviews planned for November 22 and 29 will shed more light on this mystery? Let’s hope so.

Door to the third chamber of Kasta Hill/Amphipolis is Macedonian

A new piece of the puzzle has been added this week to the ongoing excavations at the Tomb of Kasta Hill/Amphipolis, as archaeologists have found three fragments of a marble door at the entrance leading to the third chamber. This double door, imitating a wooden door decorated with nails, reinforces the theory that we are dealing with a Macedonian tomb. Like the other parts of the tomb, the marble comes from nearby Thasos. The door panels have been measured at 1.5 meters wide and 14 cm thick.

At first, the possibility of looting was put forward, but since the remains of the door were found in the second chamber, this indicates that the slabs were pushed from the inside out, either by the severe earthquake that occurred in the 6th century AD or by the heavy shelling in the area during the Bulgarian attacks of 1913. Under pressure, the door must have been blasted forward.

[Reconstruction made by the Greek Ministry of Culture. 

Both pictures are released by the Greek Ministry of Culture.]

The Tomb of Amphipolis is making headlines again

There is not much news to tell about the ongoing excavations of the Tomb of Amphipolis, although for reasons beyond my comprehension it is making headlines all around the world once again.

[The two sphinxes guarding the entrance of the ancient Macedonian tomb  [Credit: INTIME NEWS]]

Excavations at Amphipolis started in 2012 (see: Has the Tomb of Roxane and young Alexander been located?) and more information was divulged in the course of 2013 (see: Roxane’s Tomb linked to the Lion of Amphipolis? and Nonsense about Alexander’s grave in Amphipolis). There is evidently the link with Alexander the Great as speculations tie this tomb to his wife, Queen Roxane who was killed by Cassander in 311 BC and to her son by Alexander the Great, Alexander IV. Nothing has been proved yet though.

The only new elements I can distill from all these news articles is that apparently the entrance to the tomb has been opened since they state that two sphinxes were guarding it. Behind them there is 4-5 meter-wide corridor covered with frescoes although no pictures have been released. I read about columns and decorations of white marble from Thasos but their whereabouts is vague (see this article in: The Greek Reporter)

All indicates that this is the burial site of a prominent Macedonian, maybe a royalty, from 325-300 BC and also that the nearby Lion of Amphipolis may have stood on top of this tumulus now under excavation. It may well have been built by the famous architect Dinocrates, a close friend of Alexander the Great.

My first idea for all this recent commotion is because the Greek state desperately needs funds to continue their excavations, for so far there is no sensational find or any exceptional key element to trigger our attention. 

Wine is a popular subject these days, now in Bulgaria

It seems wine is a very popular subject for archaeologists these days, for after Greek wine, not so Greek after all, and News about Greek (Macedonian) wine, the latest update now comes from Bulgaria.

[Picture from Focus Information Agency]

One of the main tourist destinations these days is the city of Nessebar on the Black Sea and it is precisely here that a perfectly preserved cellar full of wine amphorae from the 5th century BC has been discovered. Great news for the wine aficionados!

The cellar measuring 2.6 x 2.5 meters belonged to a house located at the far northern end of the peninsula, mostly ignored by later settlers. Amazingly enough, more than thirty untouched amphorae were unearthed. Based on their shapes and measurements, they could be traced back to the islands of Chios, Lesbos, Thasos, etc., to transport wine (and oil) from prominent producers and importers.

The article from Focus Information Agency does not reveal whether this wine is still drinkable. I wonder …  

Roxane’s tomb linked to the Lion of Amphipolis?

Much sooner than I expected, there is a sequel to my short article “Has the tomb of Roxane and young Alexander been located?” In spite of financial shortcuts, it seems archaeological work on this site has not been halted.

We all know that it was Cassander who, as king of Macedonia, sent  Queen Roxane and her son by Alexander the Great to Amphipolis to murder them both shortly afterwards. Under these circumstances, it sounds very strange to hear that this tomb was erected by Dinocrates, builder of Alexandria in Egypt, and the favorite architect of Alexander the Great. Alexander had a soft spot for Amphipolis, from where his fleet sailed east with him in 334 BC, and the city he intended to honor with a magnificent temple – a plan that never materialized due to the king’s untimely death. 

Since my story appeared in October 2012, about three-quarters of the total perimeter of the so-called Kasta Tumulus  has been exposed, making this tomb almost as large as the one in Vergina. The wall of the monument is built of limestone blocks covered with marble slabs from Thasos. It is clear that part of the stones have disappeared or have been removed for use elsewhere over time. It is surprising, however, that archaeologists have been able to establish that the blocks of marble used in the reconstruction of the nearby Lion of Amphipolis actually pertain to this very tomb. It is obvious to whoever has visited this lion monument that a great number of loose blocks and columns are lying around. One of the architects working on the present excavations, M Lefantzis, went so far as to assume that the tomb itself once was covered with soil and topped with a lion, the one that has been reassembled further uphill and known as the Lion of Amphipolis.

During the second century AD, the tomb was deliberately and thoroughly destroyed by the Romans, dragging most of the blocks, including the lion, into the Strymon River. Why this happened and why in such a violent way, I don’t know. At the time of the Balkan wars (1912-1913), Greek soldiers dug out a great deal of blocks from the Strymon riverbed, which led to reassembling the lion monument at the spot where we see it today. A great many pieces could not find a reasonable place in the reassembling works, and they were left behind at the foot of the monument.

Today’s archaeologists are once again collecting and categorizing the numerous marble blocks from the river bed as well as from around the Lion of Amphipolis, and because they have not found a penis, have come to the conclusion that we are looking at a lioness instead. While a lion statue may be used to honor a male hero or king, a lioness traditionally crowns a female tomb. Because of the large size of the Roxane tumulus, it is automatically linked with a female of royal blood, and who else would be important enough here in Amphipolis at the end of the fourth century BC but Roxane?

The inside of the tumulus still remains a secret, and it is quite an exciting thought that it might be the burial site of two persons so dear to Alexander, even if he has never seen his son and heir by Roxane.